Santos seeking to cement deal

THE Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) has received an authorisation application from Santos Ltd seeking approval for its proposed merger with Oil Search Ltd.
ICCC Commissioner and chief executive officer Paulus Ain said Santos and Oil Search had entered into a binding merger implementation deed under which Santos proposed to merge with Oil Search via a scheme of arrangement under PNG law.
“Upon successful implementation of the (deed), Santos will acquire all the shares in Oil Search and the current shareholders of Oil Search will own (around) 38.5 percent shares in Santos,” he said.
The remaining 61.5 per cent will be owned by the shareholders of Santos.
“Authorisation for business mergers and acquisitions under the ICCC Act is a statutory process through which businesses seek approval from the ICCC before proceeding with any business mergers and acquisitions that would otherwise raise serious competition concerns and potentially breach the Act,” he said.
The process requires the ICCC to invite comments/submissions from stakeholders on any proposed transaction under assessment.
“The ICCC is therefore inviting relevant stakeholders and the general public to provide comments and submissions on the likely competition effects this proposed merger. “All comments and submissions should reach the ICCC by or before Monday Nov 22, 2021.”
Santos is an Australian energy company and its main activities include exploration for and development, production, transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas).
It is a leading supplier of natural gas and the biggest supplier of domestic gas in Australia and Asia and aims to become the leading Asia-Pacific LNG supplier.
Santos does not operate any assets in PNG and is merely the holder of ownership interests in projects operated by other parties or Joint Venture partners.
Oil Search operates all of PNG’s producing oil fields. Oil Search exports and supplies condensate (crude oil) to both the international and domestic markets on behalf of its JV partners, except ExxonMobil.
Oil Search also owns PNG’s only oil pipeline and oil processing plant.